How to lose weight and keep it off

It is the new year and many people's thoughts are turning to losing a little bit of weight so it is timely that a local weight-loss expert lays ready to help even more people lose weight and keep it off for life thanks to a new initiative to support slimmers who have reached their target weight.

It is the new year and many people's thoughts are turning to losing a little bit of weight so it is timely that a local weight-loss expert lays ready to help even more people lose weight and keep it off for life thanks to a new initiative to support slimmers who have reached their target weight.

As part of a campaign to build in additional support for members who reach their personal target weight, Slimming World conducted a survey of 4,774 successful slimmer's.

The national survey that found slimmers are more than twice as likely to describe losing weight as 'easy' compared to maintaining weight.

Sinead Wyer, who runs the Flemington Community Centres Slimming World groups, says people who find maintaining weight loss challenging are not alone.

The successful slimmers surveyed, who have all reached their target weight with Slimming World, found that while more than half of respondents (59%) described losing weight as 'very easy' or 'easy', fewer than one in four (23%) said maintaining their new slim weight was 'very easy' or 'easy'.

Lacking confidence in what to eat to maintain their weight (49%), missing seeing results on the scales each week (40%), and no longer receiving rewards or recognition for their weight loss (34%) were the most common reasons given for finding weight-loss maintenance challenging.

Slimming World's new initiative for target members addresses all of these challenges and aims to help make weight loss maintenance easier.

It includes a new Slim for Life plan to help target members to adapt their diet to maintain weight rather than continue to lose. The plan, which is designed to be personalised by slimmers, gives members the option of three routes depending on their rate of weight loss and introduces members to the concept of Savvy Syns - Syns are food and drink that are not counted as 'free' on the Slimming World plan. Savvy Syns constitute a healthier or safer choice than other high-calorie and high-fat options because they provide beneficial nutrients, are more satisfying or are less likely to catapult people back into the habits that caused them to gain weight in the future than other foods. Members are encouraged and supported to make their own personal choices and adopt a more flexible approach once they've achieved their personal target weight, which they set themselves.

The new Slim for Life plan, which was developed in response to requests for increased support from target members, focuses on the first 12 weeks after members achieve their target weight. It guides them through a specially-tailored journey to maintain their new weight and help build the skills to stay there for life.

Sinead, who supports people to lose weight each week, says: 'When members start their weight-loss journey, it can be difficult for them to think too far ahead. They're so focused on losing the weight that they find it difficult to even think about how they're going to keep it off. This new guidance will really help our members to understand the importance of having the right mind set and behaviours from the very beginning of their journey.'